By Amber Stewart
We pulled up to our family’s church, and my mom and daddy helped me out of the van. This was a very special evening. Satan tried his best to keep me home, but I made it. I officially entered the 2025 “Night to Shine” at Pleasant View Baptist Church.
Amber’s parents, Matthew and Alice Stewart, take a moment to stop and pose with Amber. (Photo courtesy of Pleasant View Baptist Church)
Two gentlemen kindly held both doors open as my daddy pushed me inside. I had asked daddy to be my “date” this year, and he obliged. Really, I just wanted him to share in this special night and see how great it is.
I am always rushing, never fast enough; I am a slow girl in a fast-paced world. Tonight is different, though. I can just be me, I’m enough. Everyone is clapping and cheering for me as I drive into the church, and it sure does make me feel special.
It’s refreshing because I haven’t been out of the house in months, aside from occasional hospital visits at John Hopkins Medical Center. It seems like every time I turn around, I’m either not feeling well, or my wheelchair is broken again. Of course, anything medical takes forever to get fixed.
Normally, when I do venture out into society, for the most part, I feel overlooked or ignored. I have to work so hard just to be seen and treated like a human.
People are so quick to judge, thinking I’m mentally incapacitated or deaf, or maybe both. I’m in a wheelchair and can’t move anything (although I can feel everything), but I have four college degrees and am returning to school to earn more. I’m the smartest cripple you’ll ever meet, or one of them at least. I don’t expect to be treated like royalty, but I do appreciate some decency, even a little respect. Oftentimes, though, people don’t know how to interact with someone like me and fear they’ll say the wrong thing, so instead, they just pretend I’m not even there.
On February 7, though, I was not invisible. Upon entering the church, I signed in and was then whisked away to get my hair and makeup done by a professional team of hairstylists and makeup artists. This past year has been hard on me, with chronic pain, a hospital stay with pneumonia, and kidney stone surgery, there were a few times I didn’t think I’d live to be here today.
I lost a lot of my hair; the doctor says it’s from “traumatic medical events.” It’s finally growing back and is healthy, but I was slightly nervous about them doing my hair. I had nothing to worry about, though. Those ladies were so kind and understanding and made me feel beautiful. They did a 50’s style hairstyle I found on Pinterest, and I loved it. Mama and my nurses were gushing over me, telling me how pretty I was. The makeup artists touched up my makeup and added some glitter because every girl can use some glitter!
Afterward, I was escorted into the fellowship hall and the regular all-white gymnasium looked like something out of a fairy tale. Candelabras and shades of gold, purple, and blue were everywhere. There were platters of different foods and yummy cakes waiting to be eaten, and Mama got me a container full of food to take home where I’m more comfortable eating. We all strolled down the red carpet with cheerleaders on either side and got adorned with crowns and I even got a pretty corsage. There was a photo booth and karaoke, and I love to sing.
Volunteer hairstylists and makeup artists at Pleasant View Baptist Church touched up Amber’s makeup and added some glitter. (Photo by Pleasant View Baptist Church)
There were also a few service dogs and a companion cat in the quiet room, and I was truly in my happy place with them all around me letting people help me pet them. The Siamese cat named Teddy even curled up in my lap, perfectly content. Animals really do have a way of just making life better. As if the night wasn’t enough, they sent us home with goody bags full of nice, thoughtful things they hoped we’d like.
My life certainly isn’t easy, but that night helped me forget all about my struggles and feel free to just be me. Just like the camp I go to for adults on ventilators every year, Night to Shine is the physical representation of the pure, sacrificial love of Jesus Christ. For a church to devote an entire night to a group of people that society at large has deemed inferior and unimportant, that’s love. I know God was smiling down that night, saying, “That’s my bride!”
Amber Stewart is a member of Pleasant View Baptist Church, Port Deposit. She is the author of “Broken and Beautiful: The Greatest Beauty Comes from Our Deepest Pain,” and the ”Sassy Sally and Her Little Dog” series.